After having passed through the seven zones of the Heavens, it was not long before he heard the scratching of pens writing in the "Book of Fate," and the thanksgivings of the angels glorifying the Almighty. Finally, he reached the "Sidratu'l-Muntaha," the "Lote-tree of the Extremity." At this spot, Jibra'il left him, saying: "Here is the boundary of Knowledge, where I am forced to halt. As for thee, O Prince of Messengers! O friend of the Master of the Worlds! continue thy glorious Ascension and progress in the Light of thy Lights." And the Chosen One continued to pass through the veils covering that which is hidden, until he reached the veil of Unity and looked upon that which eyes cannot see, nor minds imagine. The eyes of his body would not have been able to support the brilliancy of this sight which must have brought on blindness. Therefore, Allah opened the eyes of Mohammad's heart, thus permitting him to contemplate the Infinite Splendour.
Allah bade him draw near to His throne, "at the distance of two bows, or even closer" (The Qur'an, liii, 9), and after having confirmed the choice He had made in charging Mohammad to be the carrier of Good Tidings to His servants, He fixed the number of prayers—fifty in all—that each Believer should offer up daily to the Creator, in gratitude for His bounty.
When the Chosen One went down, Moses met him again and questioned him. 'O Prophet of Allah! what hath our Master ordered thee with regard to the number of prayers which His disciples should offer up?'—'Fifty prayers during the day and the night.'—'O thou, the best of created beings!' Moses rejoined, 'go back to our Master, and beg Him to lighten this burden, too heavy for the weakness and laziness of mankind.' So Mohammad went back several times into the presence of the Master of the Worlds, until he prevailed upon Him to reduce the number of prayers to five only.
This parable, which serves to decide definitively the number of daily prayers, also demonstrates admirably that an excess of devotion, in the Islamic creed, is considered to be an error. "Allah desireth to make your burden light to you: for man hath been created weak." (The Qur'an, iv, 32.) Why should the Almighty be in need of the prayers of mankind? "We ask not of Thee to make provision for thyself—We will provide for Thee." (The Qur'an, xx, 132.)
Allah has sent prayer to His servants as one of His most salutary favours. Five times daily, devotion brings absolute rest to Believers; that is to say, complete interruption of the feelings that stir them, whether an excess of joy leading to ruin in the aberrations of debauchery, or an excess of sadness causing them to perish in the madness of despair. Five times daily, prayer forces them by its accompanying ablutions, to call to mind the cleanliness of the body, at the same time as the purity of the soul.
The day after his vision, the Prophet, beaming with delight, was met by his mortal enemy, Abu Jahal, who addressed him ironically: 'O Mohammad! hast thou not one of those marvellous tales which we are used to hear from thee to tell us this morning?'—'Indeed I have!' replied the Prophet. 'Between yesternight and this morning I have been to Jerusalem and back.'—'Gather round quickly, O Quraish! Hasten and hearken to the wonderful adventure of the nocturnal journey undertaken by Mohammad!' shouted Abu Jahal.
The crowd soon grew, and the Prophet gave out the narrative we have just set forth. Most of his hearers, belonging to the clan of the idol-worshippers, followed the example of their chieftain and received it with outbursts of the coarsest merriment. Some clapped their hands; others held their heads in their hands as if to stop their brains from bursting. As for the Believers, one party was undecided whether to put faith in the story or not; and the remainder, unsettled by the attitude of the public, dared not manifest their confidence openly.
Profiting by the confusion, Abu Jahal hastened to speak to Abu Bakr. 'Maybe thou dost not know the last extraordinary adventure of thy Prophet? He pretends to have accomplished in the night the journey from the "Holy Temple" of Makkah to the "Faraway Temple" of Jerusalem—there and back!' Abu Jahal was full of glee, in anticipation, at the thought of the vexation and bewilderment which were sure to be seen in the face of his fellow-citizen.
Contrary to Abu Jahal's expectations, however, Abu Bakr replied without uneasiness: 'Whatever Mohammad asserts is true and I believe it. If he maintains that he went up to the seventh Heaven in an hour and came back in the same space of time, I should still have faith in his declarations.'
Such dependable testimony caused the Faithful to take heart; thus it turned out that Abu Jahal, by trying to instil incredulity in men's minds, only succeeded in strengthening their beliefs. Desirous of catching the Prophet redhanded as a cheat, Abu Jahal interrogated him concerning the Temple of Jerusalem, calling on him for a description thereof. But he was utterly routed when Mohammad, whom his foe thought had never set foot in Jerusalem, except during this nocturnal vision, described the city in all its peculiarities and with great accuracy, endorsed by all among those assembled who had ever undertaken that journey.